Dr. Matsumoto is a broadly trained scientist and educator, with over 20 years of administrative
experience building collaborative multidisciplinary training programs. Dr. Matsumoto
obtained her Ph.D. in psychology at Brown University where her primary research interest
focused on, and continues to deal with the effects of drugs on the brain. Dr. Matsumoto
subsequently received post-doctoral training in biochemistry and physiology at Brown
and Northwestern Universities. She then served as an Assistant Professor of Neurology
at the University of California Irvine, and Co-Director of its Parkinson's and Movement
Disorders Program. In this role, Dr. Matsumoto was responsible for coordinating all
of the basic science research activities of the unit, including the training of clinicians,
fellows and students and the development of novel translational research programs.
In 1996, Dr. Matsumoto moved to the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
in the College of Pharmacy, where her research focused on medications development
for the treatment of drug abuse. She moved up the ranks to become an Edith Gaylord
Harper Presidential Professor, and also held an adjunct appointment in the Department
of Psychiatry. In addition, she served as the Associate Director of the Oklahoma Center
for Neuroscience, where her duties included running the graduate program, and coordinating
community outreach and educational activities. In 2004, Dr. Matsumoto moved to the
University of Mississippi, where she served as the founding Director of the Center
for Research Excellence in Natural Products Neuroscience after leveraging the school's
first COBRE grant. She joined West Virginia University in 2008 to serve as the Associate
Dean for Research and Graduate Programs, a newly created position in the School of
Pharmacy, where she established a new external funding baseline for the school which
exceeded its previous historic high and grew the graduate program into the largest
biomedical Ph.D. program at WVU. Dr. Matsumoto joined Touro University California
as the Dean of the College of Pharmacy in 2014 where she continues to stimulate the
training of future leaders for the profession by promoting innovation, excellence,
and service.

Institution Degree Field of Study Obtained

Creighton University B.S. Biology & Psychology 1985

Brown University Sc.M. Psychology 1987

Brown University Ph.D. Psychology 1989

Brown University Postdoc Psychology & Biochemistry 1989-1990

Northwestern University Postdoc Physiology 1990-1992

My recent research focuses on the development of potential new drugs for the treatment
of neurological and psychiatric disorders, and elucidation of cellular mechanisms
through which they produce their therapeutic effects.

Psychostimulant abuse: Currently, there are no FDA-approved medications to treat cocaine
and methamphetamine abuse, a void which exacerbates a major health and societal problem.
Together with our medicinal chemist collaborators, we have developed new classes of
drugs that exert powerful effects in mitigating the actions of psychostimulants in
laboratory animals. The research in our lab is focused on optimizing these compounds,
and identifying cellular and molecular mechanisms through which they produce their
beneficial actions.

Opioid analgesics: Opioid analgesics such as morphine provide powerful pain relief.
However, their therapeutic benefits are limited by the development of tolerance, physical
dependence, and constipation. In collaboration with our medicinal chemist colleagues,
novel opioid compounds are being designed, synthesized, and tested with the goal of
developing effective pain relievers with reduced side effects and lower potential
for abuse.

Depression: Depression affects about 20% of Americans and is the leading cause of
disability in the U.S. Despite recent advances, it takes several weeks before antidepressant
medications are effective and about 30% of patients still do not respond. Our research
group is developing fast acting antidepressant drugs which are currently being evaluated
in animals, cell-based model systems, and human clinical trials.

Academy of Managed Care PharmacyAmerican Association of Colleges of PharmacyAmerican Society of Pharmacology and Experimental TherapeuticsCalifornia Society of Health Systems PharmacistsCollege on Problems of Drug DependenceSociety for Neuroscience